The difference? This time last year the Government stimulus - Help to Buy phase one - had been active for three months boosting the new build market.

12 months down the line and the market is reeling from the Mortgage Market Review - a tightening of lending rules - and six months of rhetoric from the Bank of England on the prospect of rising interest rates and the threat of a housing market bubble to the UK's fragile economic recovery.

A question of timing

Overseas money in "luxury London", pent up demand following the recession, a lack of supply, reems of equity released by baby boomers to help their children get a foot on the property ladder, and a small lift from Help to Buy, all put a rocket under house prices.

Unfortunately for those selling their homes right now the market has set high price expectations that need reprogramming.

Hometrack's results revealed that the time it takes to sell in London has doubled in the last quarter from 2.5 weeks to 4.3.

Stricter lending criteria is to blame for this. I have friends who, eager to capitalise on rising house prices, got the estate agents round, listed with the most bullish, and now cannot sell...but are loathed to drop that price.

Anecdotally, I know of vendors in the North and the Midlands, who had attractive offers in the bag a few months ago, but have seen their prospective buyers drop out as mortgages agreed in principle were revoked due to tightening regulations.

They have now reinstated that "for sale" sign but the price is unrealistic and viewings are scarce.

That's how quickly the market can move.

It can also mean a vendor has offered on a house at May prices, but will need to sell their home at July prices.

Top five property perils

However, macro-market conditions aside and there might be other factors that are stopping your home from selling.

At best one of these property perils could prevent a wannabe purchaser getting a mortgage, at worst your home could be condemned.

New research from esure shows that 45pc of people see flood risk as the primary consideration when deciding on a new home. In fact, the insurer also proved that property prices in the flood stricken south-west grew at a much slower rate (3.8pc) than the country average of (6.7pc) just following Britain's wettest winter on record.

The owners of an flooded millhouse in Sussex took the extreme measure of building an electric flood gate system. Only an option for those with deep pockets.

2. Japanese knotweed

This invasive plant, that was introduced to this country by a Dutchman who thought it looked pretty, can cause major structural damage to a home, forcing its way between concrete floors and walls and attacking the foundations.

Even if it is growing in a neighbour's garden and not your own, the creeping weed is still a threat to your property. It must not be tackled during its flowering season and while the local residents association (in my area at least) organises clearing days, it is safer to call an expert out.

First things, first, familiarise yourself with pictures of it and keep an eye out.

3. The Deathwatch beetle

A Deathwatch beetle infests old oak timbers that have been previously affected by fungal decay – specifically the oak-rot fungus Donkiopora expansa . So the key to removing, or preventing, an infestation is to make sure that your timbers are dry. Making sure your home is well ventilated and dry will also help prevent rising and rot.

There is also a device which can be stuck in the ground to soak up radon or a sub-slab suction which absorbs it from underneath the house and vents it outside.

5. Subsidence

Did the earth move for you? If so it could be subsidence.

If there is a hint of structural movement in a building survey, a buyer will run a mile.

In normal circumstances, deep below ground, the moisture level is maintained but trees remove water from the subsoil which causes clay to shrink, and the foundations to sink.

Collapsing drains, culverts and, in rare cases, hidden mine shafts or bell mines can also remove the integrity of the supporting ground.

Sometimes there is no solution - Sally Underdown (below) home on the Kemsley Field estate, near Sittingbourne, which has been condemned due to subsidence problems. Sometimes the movement will stop and all that is necessary is a bit of re-pointing. But if it’s serious then underpinningmay be required.

Give your home regular MOTs

Charlie Seligman, a residential valuer with property agents Savills also warns that power lines and tree roots can impact the sale and price potential of a home.

All of the above factors should be picked up in a structural building survey and a good valuation survey - which assesses environmental factors, he advises.

"People use the web now to drill down into postcodes and assess the local area," Seligman says. "But like giving your car an MOT your house needs the same treatment."

Something as simple as repainting your windows could be the key to flogging your home.

But selling is an expensive business, better to invest while you live there rather than throw money at the problems when you're ready to move.